Christmas: A Renewal

'Twas the week before Christmas; I was on the run,
But ahead of the game -- my shopping was done!
I still had the wrapping, the menus to plan,
The cookies to bake, and the laundry -- again.

There was music to practice and costumes to make
And lines to remember and pictures to take
And the final rehearsal for the church Christmas skit,
And, oh yes! I had promised to babysit.

We'd been to three programs and one special lunch;
There were two more to go to (and more! was my hunch).
Yet threaded through this, recurred a sensation
Of memories, changes ... of realization.

I thought of the Christmases perfect and bright,
A storybook picture with everything right.
But what about Christmas when things were all wrong?
How could one's heart then be filled with a song?

When a young man was missing through a death so untimely,
How did peace fit the scene, and joy? So unseemly.
Or what about Christmas including divorce?
Lone parents, scared children. A time to rejoice?

And then there's remarriage; Christmas with strangers?
Stepchildren, new in-laws, traditions endangered.
And what about friends with a child who was dying?
Or the ones who'd lost jobs and would do little buying?

Estrangements at Christmas? Relationships broken
By desperate actions, or cruel words spoken.
And what of the lonely, the ill and the needy?
And what of the criminal, the deranged, and the greedy?

My reflections were shattered by the doorbell's ring.
My next-door neighbor had goodies to bring.
I thought of this Christmas, still ahead, still unused,
With brand new grandchildren to keep us amused.

With four generations alive, we were blessed;
I knew that this Christmas would be one of the best.
But to make it that way there was now more to do,
Priorities shuffled, I'd adjusted my view.

Who could I help, of the people I knew?
The needs were so great, my resources so few.
But the spirit of Christmas had gripped me within;
I could make some small difference. And so I lit in.

My small beam of light in the dark would be hurled,
To honor the birth of the Light of the World.

Merry Christmas!

Copyright 1993 All Rights Reserved